


You and I Will Be Like a Couple of Cosmonauts

by Venoveren



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Coming of Age, Deviates From Canon, F/M, M/M, Major Original Character(s), Post-War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-16 06:08:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28826442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Venoveren/pseuds/Venoveren
Summary: We all joke about the Harry Potter characters needing therapy, right? Well, here it is! Erimentha Avery, descendant of the famous Death Eaters, seeks to become the first in the wizarding world to obtain a muggle University education after Hogwarts. If she keeps her foot in both worlds, will she use her unique position for the good of both societies? Or will she follow in her family's footsteps in the search for power and influence?Before Erimetha makes those decisions, she needs to get through Hogwarts while also secretly enrolled in muggle school! As if it wasn't difficult enough juggling up to 18 classes at a time, Erimentha must learn how to make friends, bridge the gap between the houses after the war, bridge the gap between wizarding and muggle societies, reconcile her family history, and to accept herself. Oh, and there is that pesky problem of being in love with Severus Snape.AU where Snape lives, but most else is canon compliant. Post war fic starting in 2005. I am planning on this story spanning 25+ years.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Severus Snape (eventually), Severus Snape/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 5





	1. Prologue

** May, 2026 **

A hushed silence fell over the room. As if on cue, a pale hand raised in the crowd from the side of the room where the Hogwarts Board of Governors was sitting. Everyone turned and looked at him, and then at Erimentha. Severus Snape, seated at the far end in the front row, could see her chest rise and fall as she took a deep breath. It made him realize he had been holding his own breath. He would have never noticed that before. 

_“It’s called square breathing. In..., two three, four. Hold..., two, three, four. Out...two, three, four. Hold...two, three, four,” she had explained to him just weeks ago. Her tone was professional, but surely she was mocking him._

_“As I have never experienced difficulty performing the most basic human function for the sixty some odd years I have been alive—excluding, of course, the day I nearly died, but even then I didn’t need a refresher course,” he watched her smirk as he continued. “So I cannot fathom taking you seriously. If it takes muggles seven years of university education to learn how to breathe, I will be waiting with bated breath as you try to convince everyone that we are in dire need of their superior knowledge.”_

_"Bated breath, Severus?” That's really the opposite of what we are going for right now." She allowed herself to snicker while shaking her head at him._

_He rolled his eyes and sat up from the couch. She knew by now never to take his rants personally, but the required patience of her occupation ruined all the fun of bickering._

_“Just try it! It’ll help you rellllaaxxx,” she drew out the word as he started to walk out the door. As he left the room, he heard her shout, “you won’t even have to tell me that you like it because I know I’m right!”_

The breathing techniques _were_ helpful, though, he would never admit it. She had been right about both things. After months of preparation, Erimentha Avery was now presenting before the Hogwarts staff, Headmistress Minerva McGonagall, the Hogwarts Board of Governors, and even the Minister of Magic on behalf of two needed positions at Hogwarts—a Muggle Education Liaison and a school therapist. It had been several hours of explaining the basic definitions, sharing statistics and research, connecting these concepts to wizarding society, providing personal context, and answering questions. It was nearing the end, and she had needed to draw it home as to why these positions were crucially important right now. 

Erimentha nodded in assent that the Governor could proceed with his question. Draco Malfoy stood up. 

“Are you insinuating that your _therapy_ ,” he stretched out the word dramatically, as if to keep distance from it, “could prevent wars?!” 

Erimentha stepped away from her podium and her notes, preparing to speak candidly. She descended to the first step so she remained elevated, yet closer to the audience. The clicking of her knee high, leather boots echoed in the Great Hall, and she took her steps slowly. Severus could tell she was trying to use each movement for her benefit, which was a new skill. She was entirely too honest before. 

Her brown hair had been styled into soft, spiral curls. He knew she wanted to look older, but she couldn’t control her youthful face, which hadn’t changed much at all since she had been a student here. She straightened her cropped leather jacket over her white, silk blouse. _Don’t fiddle with your clothes. It makes you look like you are stalling for time. You’re prepared._ He knew she couldn’t hear his thoughts anymore—old habit, he supposed. Her features may have resembled her former student self, but her clothing choices today were unabashedly muggle. It was a risk. This whole situation was unheard of, but the decision not to wear robes clearly sent the message that she was proud of her muggle life. 

“Yes, I do believe this, Mr. Malfoy,” she answered him. She bowed her head slightly and half-smiled, “but it’s not _my_ therapy. I am only one practitioner. In order to have an effect to prevent another war, our entire culture would need to thoroughly embrace the value of others outside of the wizarding community.” 

Severus watched the reactions of those around him. This wasn’t a jab at Draco—she didn’t even know him—but the coincidence could easily be construed as such. Severus looked to the middle of the row he was sitting in where Harry Potter and Minister Granger were seated. This could also be construed as a criticism of Granger’s administration, but if she took it personally, she did not show it. Everyone knew Granger’s stance on progressive policies, and this was evidenced by the fact that she was here to begin with. Erimentha was not targeting individuals in their prospective political roles, but she was treading dangerously close to it. 

_Don’t let him take control. Keep going. Explain yourself._ Severus straightened his back and interlaced his fingers together. This was her presentation— not an adversarial debate. 

As if listening to his advice, Erimentha continued on before Draco could attack.

“If we want to prevent a repeat of history, we will first need to acknowledge our lack of progress since Voldemort’s defeat. Therapy can be a tool used to progress and work through internal struggle. Societal change begins with individuals.” 

She shifted to a more open stance that would address the whole room, instead of just Draco. “If everyone in our culture had access to tools that would help them heal through their trauma, relieve stress, navigate through life changes, regulate emotions, tolerate distress, stay mindful, and effectively communicate with others”, she paused, “then yes, I believe it could be enough to stop wars.” 

Erimentha looked back at him and smiled, but Draco was not one to forgive any sort of political ignorance. His lips were slightly pursed, which was a meaningful choice for someone who had received training on maintaining a public image his entire life. He wasn’t going to lay back and let her insinuate _anything_ about him, even if this was not Avery’s intention. Though part of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, if only through technicality, Erimentha was a nobody to Draco Malfoy. 

Draco stepped out of his row and into the aisle. He moved his body so his back was to Erimentha. 

“While those things are all well and good, the war was started by a master of the Dark Arts looking to cheat death and conquer the world. You’re really arrogant enough to claim that _talking_ to someone with muggle,” he paused, “methods...can prevent _that?”_ He turned back to Erimentha for an answer with his arms spread outward, which gave the impression that he was speaking on behalf of the entire room. 

Severus immediately looked to the corner of the room in front of him to roll his eyes. While normally professional, Draco did maintain his penchant for dramatics when he felt entitled to it. Severus then scanned the rest of the room, and while he noticed others’ signs of irritation, they remained fixed on the scene at hand. He was debating addressing Draco himself to put the man in his place. Draco was now in his 40’s, but instances like this made it easy for Severus to picture him as the arrogant schoolboy he’d once been. Erimentha was hardly alive during the war, unlike everyone else in this room. His attempt at dominance was completely unnecessary. 

This was technically a job interview, after all. If the Board and Headmistress did not wish to hire her, they would send a rejection letter and be done with it. _Could therapy fix Draco’s needless defensiveness? If successful, that alone could be a worthwhile selling point._ Severus finally looked upon Erimentha, ready to assess the damage. 

Erimentha was looking at Severus for the first time during her presentation. He’d noticed her acknowledgement of his presence was decidedly absent tonight. It wasn’t what he had expected—she wasn’t looking at him for help—she was grinning. She got down from the stairs so she was on the same level as the audience. She faced him, but she walked backwards, away from him. 

“You’re right, Mr. Malfoy,” she pointed at him. “I have talked about healing from the war, but what about Voldemort? How does he play into this?” She walked through the aisles while continuing to address him. “Though I don’t personally know everyone in this room, I think it’s fair for me to assume all of you experienced the war. Even though I was a toddler when Voldemort was defeated...” 

_Good job_. Severus crossed his arms so he could clench his fist discreetly in victory. 

“...even I am aware that Tom Riddle experienced significant childhood trauma.” She stopped as she made this point, having reached the back of the room. Everyone had to turn around in their seats to keep their eyes on her. 

She dropped her playful tone and declared,“this is in no way an excuse for the evil he unleashed upon the world. People in pain are still responsible for their actions.” 

Severus could tell she was trying her best to be assertive. But he also knew she was uncomfortable lecturing a group of war veterans about a war she never saw. She felt its effects, certainly, but she wasn’t there. She was exceptionally uncomfortable the few times they tried to discuss the war together. He forgave her because he appreciated that she understood her inadequacies. 

_Keep moving. Keep going._ He was assaulted by a memory of when she had asked him for lessons making a dramatic exit once when she was a student. S he had grabbed a blanket to throw around her shoulders and climbed on the couch so she was taller than him. After she’d wrapped her arms around his neck, she whispered, “ I obviously hate when class ends, but when you storm out of the room, it almost makes up for it. How did you get to be so sexy?” She hadn’t been mocking him, and it shocked him every time. He had untangled her from his neck and walked away while she cheered him on, begging for a demonstration and giggling. _That was 15 years ago._

She strutted in the aisle towards Draco. Her curls were bouncing against her shoulders, and her bright red skirt hugged her curves.

_She didn’t look like that in a skirt fifteen years ago._

“But what if Tom Riddle had gotten professional help? I have no doubt the Hogwarts staff did all they could with what they knew at the time,” she briefly nodded towards the side of the room seating the staff. 

She continued on, “but what if he had a trained childhood psychologist? Someone who could help him understand his situation? Someone who could help him work through his pain? Someone who could talk him through his misguided beliefs before they took root? Someone who was trained to see warning signs and could have warned people before he left Hogwarts?”

She raised her voice for added emphasis and announced to the room, “to be clear, I do not believe Tom Riddle would have turned into Voldemort if he had a properly trained therapist.” 

Then she addressed Draco directly, taking the slightest step towards him while asking, “does that answer your question, Mr. Malfoy?” 

Through gritted teeth, Severus could make out, “yes, Miss Avery.” 

No one could believe Erimentha's response to Mr. Malfoy. She flipped her hair, and walked away from him. Her steps were quicker and closer together, which betrayed her attempt at control in a way where Severus could tell she was excited. Back to her podium, having done a full circle around Draco, Erimentha Avery commanded the room. 

“I am only one person. I have lofty goals about how we can change our society for the better, and it starts with better educating our youth, giving them new tools to succeed, and increasing opportunities for muggle-born students. My hope is that future generations will break the cycle of generational trauma, grow up with less prejudices that plague our era, continue to reform our laws, and work towards making the world a better place for every living being. I ask for your help in providing our students with the jumping off point for progress.” 

She had been speaking for hours, yet her passion for her work only seemed to strengthen the longer she went on. At this point, nearly everyone in the room was eating out of the palm of her hand. She finished her presentation looking directly at Severus. The candlelight successfully accentuated her golden irises; in fact, the flickering of the firelight also gave the illusion the golden parts of her eyes were ablaze. When she was a child, her piercing stares had been unnerving, but this is what they were made for. 

Severus didn’t often think about their...situation...from her youth. If he did, it was oftentimes against his will because certain gazes of hers had been chained to his memory. Sometimes it’s what made him think it had all been acceptable. It wasn’t possible for a child to look at him like that. 

“Thank you for your time and consideration,” she concluded as she prepared her leave . Then the applause started—by Minister Granger. Harry Potter followed suit, and then on the very other end of the row, Headmistress McGonagall. Severus was not keen on public displays of celebration, but Miss Avery deserved this. The Board of Governors did not know Erimentha personally, so their applause had a slight delay—applause wasn’t typical for an applicant interview, after all. But this wasn’t a typical job interview. If Erimentha was offered a staff position—and by the reaction from the room, it appears she certainly would be—she would have convinced a wizarding institution over a thousand years to institute not one, but _two_ new positions just for her. 

Erimentha was standing at the podium, flabbergasted at the reception, as she took in the applause. Immediately after, McGonagall and Granger approached her, and McGonagall promptly hugged her. McGonagall had been Erimentha’s headmistress when she was a student, and Severus could overhear her telling Erimentha how proud she was. McGonagall then introduced Minister Granger to Erimentha. Erimentha shook her head, thanking her profusely for taking the time to listen to her proposition. She quickly exclaimed how Granger had always been a role model for her. After a few minutes, McGonagall leaned closer to Erimentha to whisper something. When the women walked away together, Erimentha closed her eyes and suppressed a smile. Severus assumed she was just given instructions about an offer. 

Next, the staff in the seats surrounding him promptly sat up and took the opportunity to approach Erimentha. Severus remained in his seat. Her surprise continued, but she appeared much more comfortable than when she had met the Minister. Most of the staff had been her teacher when she was a student, so they knew first hand how impressive it was that she was standing before them today. 

Harry Potter gave her the most enthusiastic hug of anyone. He had been her Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, and they had more in common than most would ever know. Severus appreciated that Erimentha had never been star struck with Potter, even as a child. Though, he would have to remember to poke fun at her reaction to meeting Granger. As Harry walked out of the room, he exchanged a knowing glance with Severus and nodded an acknowledgment. After all these years, who would have thought this would be the result? _I’m never going to be able to step foot in the staffroom again if they hire her._

The Board of Governors quickly approached and each shook her hand. He could tell she was still dazed and didn’t do more than thank them for their time. Draco was composed and professional, as if the exchange had never happened. Severus had barely noticed when McGonagall came up behind him and put her hand on his shoulder. 

“I assume you can lead her out of the castle, Severus? Or, if you prefer, I could fetch a prefect?” 

He scoffed, “that won’t be necessary.” She lingered, her hand sliding to the crook of his arm. 

“Can you believe, Avery, of all students, is back here? She really made it! She plumb disappeared and then after her...” Minerva couldn’t say it. A tear fell down her cheek. In everything she did, Erimentha always managed to shock. “I told her she’d receive her offer in two weeks time, but she is getting the job! I will make sure of it! The Board and I need time to configure the particulars...we have two new positions to sort out!” 

Minerva dried her tears and watched on as Erimentha was finishing shaking hands with the Governors. “I’m so proud of her, Severus. But will this be an uncomfortable situation for you?” 

He thought he had understood his relationship with Erimentha Avery, but tonight had changed everything. He replied, “off course not, Minerva. She will be a welcome addition to the staff.” 

Minerva squeezed his arm and headed towards the door, catching up with the Governors to escort them out of the castle. It had been a long day, but Erimentha waited at the podium until the room was nearly empty. It was just Erimentha and Severus remaining. She was clearly shocked at how well things had gone. Now that everyone important was out of the room, she looked up at the night stars of the Great Hall. 

Severus got out of his seat, but he remained a few feet away from her. It was fair to say Severus was in shock himself. Erimentha Avery was fully evolved. Though he knew she got teased as a child for not belonging in Slytherin, he couldn’t be prouder that someone from his house was taking charge in directing how the next generations can move on from Voldemort. This was everything she had talked about. This was everything she had hoped for. She had stunned the Minister of Magic, the entire Board, and every staff member of Hogwarts. Tonight, she had been the perfect mix of ambition, dedication, revolution, and empathy. She transcended every box anyone had tried to put her in before. 

He was waiting for her to make a joke, predictably a self-deprecating one. When she had graduated Muggle university, she had only joked about almost tripping during the ceremony. She barely batted at eye at her NEWT scores. Accomplishments would run off her body like water, while failures seemed to absorb into her skin. He was waiting for the confident façade to end, but she continued to ignore him. She had closed her eyes and was taking deep breaths, even though she hadn’t appeared on edge at any point over the past several hours. Rather, it appeared like she was taking it all in. 

This was the moment he finally respected her, but she no longer needed it. He had no doubt she was going to change the world. She had been powerful tonight, and it had suited her. 

Erimentha slowly opened her eyes and turned to him, realizing they had been in a stalemate. She cocked her head, questioning him without having to say a word, but he was determined to wait for her interpretation of the situation. He couldn’t help thinking he was a bit in awe of her, partly because he could not anticipate what would happen next. He remained stoic, folding his arms behind his back. After a few seconds, she turned to collect her materials from the podium, scanned the room and beamed, as if giving it a final goodbye. 

“You’re my escort out of here, right?” He nodded. “I’m ready,” she said.

Really? The most self absorbed— _she had called it introspective_ —person he had ever met wasn’t going to so much as comment on the most exciting day of her life? She looked serene for the first time in years. That was it. She wasn’t going to discuss it with him because she didn’t need to discuss it with him. She trotted on ahead of him, sweeping through the middle of the Great Hall as though it were a victory lap around the Quidditch field. Even though she had never received the lessons on dramatic exits, she managed fine on her own. 

Severus Snape had not been able to predict Erimentha Avery for the first time in his life, but he _certainly_ would not predict that she would have a wand to his throat not 10 minutes later. 


	2. Acceptance Anxiety

**Saturday, February 5, 2005**

It was already dark by the time the group had scrambled into her mom’s red Corolla, even though it was only shortly after dinner. The frigid February wind motivated the three children not to dilly dally as they ran out from the hotel in sweaters and jeans over their still slightly damp swimsuits, swinging their bags into the truck as quickly as possible. Erimentha always had the best birthday parties, and this year was no exception. She was the only one of her friends who had a winter birthday. While spending the whole day at a water park would be exciting enough on its own, the fact they got to do so in the dead of Minnesota winter made it more of a novelty. It also gave Erimentha the advantage of having more time between receiving her acceptance letter to Ilvermony and the start of the year. As the three cramped into the back seat, Erimentha looked side to side at her friends, Aaron and Rebecca Carol, and felt a pang of jealousy when they climbed in beside her. They were all sufficiently exhausted after climbing flights of stairs all day to get to the top of the water slides. When they pulled away from the hotel, Erimentha’s mom, Astra, tried to start a conversation by asking what their favorite part of the day was, but her friends each only gave a short reply to be polite.

“Thanks so much mom,“ Erimentha said to her mom as a cue to end the attempted conversation.

“Yeah, thanks so much, Astra! We had so much fun!” Her best friends echoed with increased energy to show they meant their thanks.

Her mom looked at the rear view mirror and smiled at them. “Thanks for coming, kids! We’re so happy you could come celebrate with us.” Astra then turned up the music for the drive home, and they all went silent. Erimentha and her best friends were too old to fall asleep on the way home, so they looked out the window with half closed eyes.

Erimentha was physically tired, but she had a lot on her mind. While her mom had succeeded in making this the best birthday possible, she couldn’t help but worry about what would happen when they returned home. A piece of her childhood would be left at that suburban waterpark. The worst part was that she wasn’t even sure if her grief was warranted because she had no idea what was going to happen. Aaron and Rebecca’s parents had decided against sending Aaron to wizarding school last year, but Aaron hadn’t appeared upset about the decision. The Carols rejected magic, as did everyone within the community. That’s why they lived together after all, so none of the children expected wizarding school to be an option. When Aaron had received his letter last year announcing his acceptance to Ilvermorny, his parents had thrown the letter into the fire without a second thought and went on with their life.

Erimentha caught herself staring at Aaron, but she broke her gaze and turned away when he caught her and cocked an eyebrow at her. He looked so carefree. Erimentha slumped her shoulders and looked straight ahead the rest of the ride home, attempting to hide her worry. She wished she could ask Aaron what it had been like getting his acceptance letter, but she couldn’t risk anyone knowing her parents had been fighting about this issue for months, even though she wasn’t supposed to know that. She couldn’t tell if her parents underestimated how loud their screaming fits were or just didn’t care, but they never addressed their fights with Erimentha. At this point, it sounded like there was a small chance she would still get to go to Ilvermorny. Sometimes she wished she could have the life of her friends sitting next to her—sorted out and predictable.

Her birthday was in less than a week—this upcoming Friday—and she still didn’t know if she wanted to go to Ilvermorny or not. She hadn’t allowed herself enough hope to think it through. She didn’t know what her parents’ stance was or if they would even offer to hear what Erimentha wanted. Maybe her letter would be tossed in the flames like Aaron’s had been. Her father had said that students from muggle families get their letters delivered to them by representatives from schools because they could help the muggle parents understand and convince them to let their children attend. Since her community was composed of wizarding families who rejected magic during the war, a teacher from Ilvermorny would not be coming to save her if her parents decided to throw her acceptance letter in the fire.

She caught her breathing had quickened. Luckily, the moon was already in the sky, and her friends were both looking out the side windows trying to keep themselves awake. No one had caught her worrying. Her wavy brown hair stuck to the seat, and she thought about how she was looking forward to getting out her damp clothes and taking a warm shower. Wouldn’t it be nice to use a spell to dry herself instantly, assuming a spell like that even existed? She shook her head, betraying her stillness. What if her parents did ask what she wanted? She took a deep breath and realized she should come up with a plan. Even if her mom asked her opinion—and that was a big if—it would be for naught if she didn’t have a well rehearsed argument prepared. They were nearly home, and she couldn’t decide if she wanted to stay in the car with her best friends forever or for time to fast forward to Friday, the 11th. She was turning eleven on the 11th, which made this both her golden and silver birthday. Maybe this was supposed to be the luckiest birthday of her life, but so far it was looking to be the most stressful.

Sure enough, her heart beat faster as they soared down the hill before their neighborhood. It was surrounded by trees on either side, and it was her favorite place to ride her bike with Aaron and Rebecca. They turned right once and left again to get to their magical cul-de-sac. All seven of the homes on this street were filled with ex-wizards, ex-witches, and their children who would not be taught how to use magic. While it wouldn’t be apparent to the untrained eye of a muggle, Erimentha could see the slightest shimmer of the shielding break as her mom’s car broke through to get to their street.

Erimentha’s house was the first on the right side of the street, and Aaron and Rebecca lived right across from her. Aaron was alert and unbuckling his seat belt, but Erimentha had to nudge Rebecca to wake her up. Astra pulled into the Carols’ driveway so the kids had less of a distance to walk in the cold and popped the trunk so they could grab their bags.

“Say hi to your mom for me, and thank her for letting me have you today!” Astra instructed her friends. Before they got out of the car, they thanked her again in unison and wished Erimentha a happy birthday. Rebecca leaned over to hug Erimentha, and Aaron awkwardly patted her on the shoulder. They jumped out of the car, slammed the trunk shut after they had their bags, and Astra waited until they got inside before backing up. When they were inside the garage, Astra turned back to look at Erimentha. “Did you have a good time, sweetie?”

“It was the best birthday ever! Everyone at school will be so jealous!” she paused while her mom gleamed with pride. “I wish it didn’t have to end,” she continued, dropping the tone of her voice at the end.

She wasn’t sure if her mom had even heard the last part at first because she was so pleased she had succeeded in topping the previous year’s birthday. “Well, you have time before your actual birthday. I’m sure your friends at school will do something for you, too!”

Satisfied with her answer, her mom exited the vehicle and popped the trunk again so Erimentha could grab her swim bag and her present from her friends. Her mom was already in the house, and Erimentha waited behind the car after grabbing her bags, hiding. She bit her lip and realized there wasn’t anything she could do. She climbed the stairs and opened the door to the hallway leading to the kitchen. Her dad was standing by the island with her mom, both facing her and beaming.

“There’s my birthday girl! How was your day? Show me your present!” her dad exclaimed when he saw her.

Erimentha didn’t have a lot of energy to act excited, but she reiterated how the slides weren’t too scary and that she, Aaron, and Rebecca took turns picking out what they wanted to do. The best part was how they got run free in the waterpark without an adult. Her mom had set up a 'home base' table to read magazines, and the kids could come back every couple hours to check in, grab some water, or eat meals. This birthday was the first that deviated from a ‘kiddie party.’ If her parents trusted her to behave by herself in a huge waterpark with her friends, could that mean they would trust her to go to school away from home?

“There were a ton of cute lifeguards too,” she added for emphasis at the end. That would show them she was getting older.

“Ew, don’t say that! You’re still my little pookie bear. You can’t think boys are cute yet,” her dad replied in an over the top manner.

She smirked and looked up at her mom, who rolled her eyes. “Honey, you’re shaking! Are you cold? Go take a shower and get that wet stuff off.”

Erimentha hadn’t noticed she was shivering. She wouldn’t say she was shaking, and she didn’t need her mom to tell her how to take care of herself. She kicked herself inwardly. Whenever she tried to show them she was growing up, her mom seemed to take pleasure in shutting her down. Erimentha walked determinedly out of the kitchen so they couldn’t see her pouting.

As she passed through the dining room, she gazed at a picture hung proudly of the aerial view of her home when it was being built. Her father had explained that during the wars with Voldemort, he had contacted an organization that assisted wizards going into hiding, even if they were from the UK, like her father. Community organizers would group new families together and they’d somehow end up all buying homes on the same street. This ensured privacy from muggles so the adults could continue to use practical magic if they desired. Although kids weren’t typically taught magic, they wouldn’t have to fear accidental magic episodes if they lived with ex-wizards. Families grouped on the same street had a schedule for shielding, and they had monthly neighborhood meetings to discuss safety concerns. It had been seven years since Voldemort was defeated, so Erimentha didn’t understand what they discussed at the meetings. She was convinced they served more of a social purpose at this point—at least, she hoped. If there truly wasn't a threat anymore, she should have no reason to be denied a wizarding education.

Erimentha ascended the stairs to her private bedroom. She had the biggest room in the house, and it was painted a bright purple. Her friends liked coming over to her house the most because she was the only one without siblings, and she had the coolest toys and space. She even had her own bathroom! She pushed the hanging beads aside to the on suite bathroom and flipped the light on. She frowned as she looked in the mirror. She looked like a drowned rat. Her skin was too pale and her hair looked defeated in the way it hung off her head. How did girls look so good on TV when they went to the pool? She remembered the Little Mermaid scene when Ariel broke the surface and flipped her hair back on top of a sparkly background. She had hoped she looked like that in the pools with the lifeguards watching her today, but she had thought wrong.

She rolled her eyes and looked away from the mirror. She peeled off the one piece swimsuit and threw it in the hamper before she turned on the lever for the hot water and waited until it was the desired temperature. Showers were normally her favorite part of her day. She gazed at the lyrics she had written on a piece of paper and taped to her shower wall; normally she would spend half of her time singing instead of cleaning herself, but she was too tired to put on a show tonight. She still wasted time enjoying the warmth, realizing her mother had been right about being freezing.

After her shower, she debated going downstairs to say goodnight to her parents before going to bed. On one hand, she didn’t want them to think she was ungrateful for her party, but she has thanked them several times today. She flopped herself down on the bed, grabbed the covers, and squeezed her eyes shut while she brought the blankets over her head. She wished she could fast forward to Friday. She groaned thinking about school on Monday. School! She sat up abruptly and leaned over to the bedside table to check that her alarm was turned off so she could sleep in on Sunday. What did wizards do at school to keep time? Do the alarms magically go off? Do they even have alarms? Do they have spells put on their bodies to wake up at the right time? Was it even worth thinking about?

Erimentha appreciated her fatigue because she didn’t think she’d be able to get to sleep if she wasn’t so exhausted. Several hours later, she was awakened by screaming.


	3. Erimentha's Eleventh Birthday

**Sunday, February 6, 2005**

Something slammed, and her eyes bolted open. _Where were they?_

“I’m telling you it’s too much! She won’t be able to do it!” screamed her father. 

Her mother yelled back, “and _I’m_ telling you this is my final say or it’s not happening!”

They were downstairs. Erimentha wanted to squeeze her eyes shut and wait for it to end, but they were fighting about her. She turned her head to peek at her alarm while keeping her body plastered to the mattress. It was shortly after midnight. If they were both screaming, it was a bad sign. Normally her father slammed doors, threw things, raised his voice and generally lost control while her mother remained icy and restrained. Sometimes this seemed to frustrate him further, but at least her mom wasn’t frightening. They normally never mentioned her directly when they were fighting. 

_Maybe I should go talk to them. This is clearly about school. Maybe I can prove I’m grown up by going down and telling them what I want._

But she couldn’t move. She didn’t know why. Nothing bad ever really happened, but things were getting worse. She asked her mom about it once, and she had said things had been stressful at the airline where her dad, Roger Avery, worked as a mechanic. Her mom said they needed to be understanding because jobs were getting cut. But they were fighting more, and Erimentha normally hid in her closet when they fought during the day. She’d turn the lights off, curl up into a ball, and convince herself that they wouldn’t find her if they ever tried to bring her into it. Sometimes she wished they’d get divorced. If his job was so stressful, why didn’t he get a new one? Her mom never seemed to start the fights, and she didn’t have to worry about every little thing setting her mom off. 

Erimentha heard him stomping around in the living room and felt cold sweat on her back. _At least get out of bed_ , she pressured herself. Then she could hear them better. If she was too chicken to interrupt them, she should at least try to overhear as much as possible without getting caught. _That might be better because then I can prepare what I want to say ahead of time_. 

She was almost convinced to get out of bed and listen by her door when they raised their voices again to the point where she could hear them clearly. 

“Why are you being like this? Why do you have to be so unreasonable!” her father sounded desperate. 

“I want her to be successful! That’s the most important thing!” her mother responded. 

“And you’re saying she won’t have a future if she is like me?” Desperation melted into hurt. Her father was more expressive in their fights. Astra Avery was either piercing or shrieking, and there was no in between. No matter what, she always seemed like she was winning, and this was no exception. Erimentha appreciated that because at least she could get him to stop. As expected, she heard her father stomp down the stairs to his room and slam his door shut. A few minutes later, she heard her mom climb the stairs to the level of her bedroom, which was right next door to Erimentha’s. 

But what had happened? Her father had said she couldn’t do it. Did that mean her father didn’t think she was capable of doing well at Hogwarts? Did he think she wasn’t powerful enough? Or smart enough? Tears started welling up in a delayed response. Erimentha had never considered that before. She always thought her mother was against magic, but had her mom been fighting for her the whole time? Did her dad not think she was good enough for Hogwarts? 

Erimentha sniffled but made sure not to cry. _That_ pissed them off. And she was trying to be more grown up, right? They couldn’t know she had overheard her fight or that it would upset her this much. She sat up and turned the knob on her blinds for the window behind her bed. Her bedroom looked into her backyard, which she suspected might look like Hogwarts. She was dying to ask her dad about it, but talking about magic with him was more or less impossible. She couldn’t see the stars from her room, but her room overlooked the giant tree in her backyard, which made her feel like her room was a treehouse. She enjoyed watching the woodpeckers and squirrels during the day, and though she never saw the owls, she often heard them in the early morning. There wasn’t anything to look at in the dead of winter, but it still calmed her down thinking about the world that existed outside her parents' house. Tears dried on her face. Erimentha thought it important to think this through before she went back to bed. 

Her mother had said the most important thing was that she was successful, but her father had been offended. That made it seem like her mother didn’t want her to go to Hogwarts. Astrid did tend to change her mind often, but not about something like this. But her dad might not think she was good enough for magic. Was her mom wanting Erimentha to attend despite her father's evaluation? Either way, it wasn’t looking good for her. Erimentha doubted her mother woke up one day and flip-flopped on the position she’d held for eleven years. And she had thought her dad didn't wanted to talk about magic before because of his family, but what if it was because of _her_. 

_I’m not good enough to go to Hogwarts. He doesn’t think I can do it. That’s what he said._

She grabbed the dial on the blinds, flopped onto the bed dramatically, and started crying again. It was too painful, and she was too tired to try to be grown up about it. She fell asleep eventually. 

**Friday, February 11, 2005**

They never ended up discussing the argument or acknowledging it had ever happened. This wasn’t a surprise to Erimentha because they never talked about anything. The days of the week ticked by slowly, but she noticed she was sleeping less and less as the week went on. She barely slept at all Thursday night. After midnight, she had opened her blinds for a bit, watching for any owls. This grew boring after fifteen minutes or so, and she attempted sleeping again. She’d only sleep for an hour or so before waking again. She had tried finding a book about owls in the school library with no luck. But magical owls had to be different than muggle owls anyway, right? According to her dad, the owl would come today. When she was very young, she worried the owls would be unable to find their anti-magic community, but her neighbor, Aaron, had received his owl the morning of his birthday, so she was hopeful she’d get it _sometime_ today. 

Erimentha's alarm went off at 6 am, but she was wide awake already. She heard her mom across the hall and flipped her light on. Her dad would have already left for work, and her mom should be leaving shortly. By turning her light on, this let her mom know she was awake so she didn’t need to be checked on. Unlike her mother, Erimentha needed time to herself in the morning and did not appreciate being spoken to right away. 

This year, her parents determined she was responsible enough to get herself prepared for school so her mom could get to the office before typical traffic hour. The neighbors, the Carols, drove her to school in the morning, and her dad did afternoon carpool in return. Erimentha had previously thought this was a good sign that her parents trusted her, so maybe she could go to Hogwarts, but all hopes had been squashed after Sunday’s fight. 

She washed her face and put on her ugly school uniform, which consisted of khaki pants and a blue polo shirt. Surely, the Hogwarts uniforms were prettier, especially if you lived there for seven years. She’d never get a boyfriend stuck in a uniform like this until she was eighteen. 

She allocated herself at least an hour to eat breakfast everyday. Rolling out of bed and jumping into the day without time to adjust did not make sense to Erimentha Avery. She had no problem waking up early if she had time to watch a show or catch up on reading while she leisurely ate some toast. Instead of turning on the tv, Erimentha opened up the curtains to the dining room and watched the sun rise. If only it wasn’t so cold; she wished she could go outside and wait for the owl. Surely it wouldn’t come while she was at school, right? What do owls do when nobody is home? 

The sun rose about twenty minutes after seven, and then it happened. A great horned owl with bright green eyes flew from the direction of the Carols' house, and Erimentha leapt up to open the front door. She had never accepted mail from an owl before, so she ran out onto the porch without putting on shoes to wave down the bird. Her dad never told her this was necessary, but she didn’t want to take her chances. It was early enough where she didn't worry about her neighbors seeing her. The owl landed on the railing of her porch a couple feet away from her.

 _Were owls supposed to be this big? Do I just take the letter out of its beak? Please don’t bite me._

After she took the letter, the owl waited, as if expecting something. Erimentha was anxious to get inside, away from prying eyes, so she thanked the owl and dashed inside. She couldn’t believe she was holding the letter and that it was actually real. She opened it carefully so not to rip the envelope too much and read it in a daze. She had been accepted and her response was required by July 31st. It was signed by Filius Flitwick, the Deputy Headmaster. Erimentha wondered if her dad would know him. 

After reading the letter a few times over, she ran back into the kitchen to look at the time. Oh no, only fifteen minutes! It was her job to watch for the Carols getting into their car to leave for school, and they generally left for school at 7:45. She frantically put her breakfast dishes in the dishwasher, packed her lunch, and got her backpack ready. By the time she had on her coat and gloves, she expected the Carols to start coming outside any minute. What was she to do with her letter? She initially placed it on the dining room table, but then drew it back quickly. She didn’t want to let go of it at all. Her mom was sneaky, and she knew the letter was coming today. What if her mom came home during lunch to get to the owls before anyone else had? What if her mom threw her letter away if she left it on the table? Movement caught Erimentha’s eye as she saw the Carols’ garage door opening. She unzipped the front compartment of her backpack and jammed the letter in. She couldn’t let it all be over before she had a chance to defend herself. As she saw her friends come outside, she locked her front door and then doubled back towards the kitchen to exit through the garage. 

The car ride to school was uneventful. The Carols wished her happy birthday, and she reminded them that it was the luckiest birthday of her life today. Their mom looked at Erimentha suspiciously from the rear view mirror, but Erimentha explained that it was her golden and silver birthday since she was eleven on the 11th. Erimentha thought she could detect a slight narrowing of eyes as their mom went back to watching the road. She wanted to talk to the Carols about receiving the letter, especially Aaron, since he had gotten one last year, but the Carols were strictly anti-magic. They never even used practical magic around the house. Aaron and Rebecca never complained about it, even when they were alone, just the three of them, which gave Erimentha the impression that it truly didn’t bother them. Erimentha squirmed in her seat and tapped her foot on the ride to school. She felt electrified with excitement, and she held her backpack in her lap the whole ride to school. 

The rest of the school day was predictable— well, except for morning chapel. Erimentha, Aaron, and Rebecca went to a muggle school, but it wasn’t a normal muggle school. It was a Christian school, which was attached to a Pentecostal church. For some reason, the Pentecostals had volunteered to hide wizards during Voldemort’s war. While not entirely composed of wizards, the Pentecostals taught that magic was a sin. The wizards believed magic only resulted in wars and tragedy, which is why the Pentecostal wizards rejected magic. Erimentha’s dad didn’t believe this, but he went along with it because was thankful for the protection their community had been able to provide, especially for him. Roger Avery did not think he would survive the first war, let alone two, considering his father and brother were in Voldemort’s inner circle. While he was apt to use some practical magic while doing home repairs, he had also witnessed the evils of magic firsthand, which is why he turned his back on wizarding society. 

The problem with the Pentecostal community, and likewise, Erimentha's school, was that it wasn’t entirely composed of ex-wizards. Muggle and ex-wizard Pentecostals alike heard sermons about the sins of witchcraft, but Voldemort was never spoken about directly. Instead, they’d hear about idolatry or ‘the devil.’ Erimentha knew the Carols had magical abilities, but she didn’t know about anyone else in her school. Maybe they were all wizards, or maybe the three of them were the only ones. Due to the Statute of Secrecy, she could never take the risk in asking anyone, and she certainly would not be able to share the news about her letter today. It was also getting more difficult to control her accidental magic episodes, which is partially why she was relieved about the prospect of going to Hogwarts. 

She hadn’t told anyone, but controlling her magic was getting harder, especially during morning chapel. She didn’t know why. Pages in her Bible would flip independently, music would skip, the stage lights would flicker, and she was entirely convinced it was her fault. No one had caught her yet, but she knew kids with wizard parents who had been pulled out of school because of it to be ‘homeschooled.’ Her parents had warned her about it, and every year before the start of the new year, she was instructed to let them know if she was struggling. She was told homeschooling was common with Pentecostals, even the muggle ones, because most of the moms didn’t work. It was convenient because the muggle Pentecostals would never suspect a student was switched to homeschooling for the purpose of hiding their budding magical abilities. 

They had morning chapel every day before classes, and it was Erimentha’s least favorite part of the every day. Pastor Whiting was in today, which would have otherwise ruined Erimentha’s birthday if not for the prospect of never having to attend chapel again. Erimentha was convinced that he hated her, so she hated him too, though they had no reason to hate each other. She didn’t even know when it started. She would catch herself scowling at him when she passed him in the halls. Sometimes she even got the shivers when she was near him, but she supposed that was just being dramatic. He worked at the church that the school was connected to, and he’d normally join the children's chapel at the school once a week. He normally attended on Mondays or Wednesdays, and it was atypical that he was joining them on a Friday. _Just my luck_ , she thought. 

Pastor Whiting was a pudgy man in his forties. He was average in every way, and he had a penchant for sweater vests. Every student and staff member gathered in the chapel while Pastor Whiting lead them in the pledge of allegiance of the United States, the Christian flag, and the Bible. Worship was next, and that was the worst part of all. That’s when her incidents typically happened. Pastor Whiting descended the stage and walked down the aisle where she was sitting at the end of the row. The lights in the chapel were lowering as the music started, and Pastor Whiting stopped at Erimentha’s seat to talk to her directly, which never happened. 

“I hear it’s cause for celebration. Happy eleventh birthday, Erimentha,” he whispered. 

Erimentha was forced to look at him. She would never hear the end of it if she ignored him—and then it happened. She looked up at him, her stomach dropped, and it stung like an icicle was thrust into the side of her head. But she couldn’t let on, so she turned to gaze at his ears instead and unfocussed her eyes. Thankfully, he patted her on the shoulder and left. She wasn’t even sure if she had thanked him. She gripped the chair in front of her for support. She was dizzy, but she’d have to stand for worship or she’d get sent to the principal’s office again. Luckily, the room was dark and most of the children around her would be singing with eyes closed, hands waving in the air. She wanted to peek around to see if anyone was reacting to their exchange, but she worried that’d make it worse. She focused on holding onto the chair and retreating inwardly. She knew how to make it through. Chapel normally left her feeling uneasy, but this was the worst she had ever felt. At least her magic hadn’t acted up, too. When she did have accidental episodes, this is what’d she have to do to stop it. The thought of never having to experience this feeling at Hogwarts was a real selling point. The music boomed and kids around her were wailing. She tried to breathe through it, knowing it'd stop eventually. 

She was grateful when they got to sit down. Pastor Whiting emerged on the stage again, but she was exhausted, which made it easier to drown him out. Worship took up at least half of chapel, so she kept telling herself that they were almost done. One of the second graders was chosen to finish them off with prayer. Even though it was her birthday, she knew she’d never be chosen to lead prayer—not that she would want to because she wasn’t a good liar—but she couldn’t help but be jealous by all the praise the ‘good kids’ got. She was better than them, though, and she knew it. 

It was normally easy to bounce back to her bubbly self after chapel, but she felt groggy today. She thought about the cupcakes she brought for her class to perk herself up. Her classmates were kind to her and sang her happy birthday at lunch. The lunch lady had to shush her table when they were laughing so loudly at the stories she came up with for their talking lunchboxes, which felt like a victory. It was even warm enough where they got to go outside for recess, and she was thrilled to go sledding down the big hill behind the school. By the time her dad picked her up, she had managed to forget about chapel and was brought back to the reality of her impending life changing decision. 

She climbed into the front seat of her dad’s pickup truck and let one of her friends take the lead in the carpool comedy show. She laughed when it was appropriate, but she was looking forward to dropping her friends off. Aaron and Rebecca's mom was a teacher at school, so they stayed late to help their mom after school and didn’t need a ride home today. This ensured she’d get plenty of forced conversation time with her dad. As soon as her second friend was dropped off at her house, Erimentha got the ball rolling. 

“Dad, I have something to show you,” she said as she started rummaging through her backpack. “The owl came right before school.” 

“Young lady! Why would you bring that to school? What if someone had seen it?” she hadn’t expected _him_ to be angry. 

“No one saw it! I promise!” she raised her voice to match his. “I just didn’t want mom to take it!” 

“You’re sure you didn’t show it off? Not even to the Carols?” her father countered. 

“No, it was in my backpack the whole time. It all happened so fast. The owl came—dad it was huge! It was like the size of my whole body—but then it was time to leave and I just...wanted to keep it…” her voice trailed off. 

He sighed. “You’re going to have to be more responsible if we send you off to school on the other side of the world. You have to think things through!” 

Erimentha looked down at her lap and apologized. She was afraid to ask, but she had to. “So I might be able to go?” It was barely above a whisper. 

Roger lowered his voice, but kept a stern tone. “You can’t tell your mom about bringing the letter to school. Put it under your pillow and pretend you left it at home.” 

Erimentha smiled and looked up. “Deal!” She turned to her father and thanked him. 

Roger didn’t acknowledge her thanks. “Why do you want to go to Hogwarts? Please tell me it’s about more than pissing off your mother.” 

_Seriously? He did say he didn’t think I could do it. Does he think that’s all it is? Does he think I’m stupid?_

“Of course it’s more than that,” she huffed, but then corrected herself. “It’s not that at all, I mean...I feel different. Aaron and Rebecca never talk about magic. I don’t get it! I’m from a magical family, and I don’t think we should be ashamed.” 

“If you want to go to Hogwarts to be like my family, then we definitely won’t send you,” he shot back quickly. “And the Carols know it’s against the rules to talk about magic. You should know that too.” 

_Idiot. Never talk about his family. You’re messing up everything!_

“Not like that! I meant you! And...kids mess up, dad. I’ve never talked about magic at school, but I don’t see the problem talking about it with them when we are playing at home. And there’s two of them! I feel like they should have cracked by now! I really don’t think it bothers them.” She sat up straight and balled her fists. “But it bothers me. I hate when they talk about how magic is a sin at school! It’s wrong! I mean, I know what your family did was wrong, but not everyone who uses magic is like that! We’re not like that! I don’t want to be like your family, but I don’t want to be like the kids at school either. They just do what everyone tells them and don’t think about anything.” 

Erimentha took in a deep breath, and she took in the smell of fuel from her dad’s work overalls. She thought she was explaining herself well. But would it make him angry? She looked over at him, and he was staring straight ahead, looking pensive. 

“You’ve always been different, that is true,” he sighed. “But you’re s..” She thought he was going to say stupid, but instead, he said she was sensitive.

 _Sensitive? Does he still not think I should go, though? He didn’t say no. Now what?_

Erimentha opened her mouth, but words escaped her. She adjusted herself in her seat. How would she counter that? She got nearly perfect grades, so she had a defense prepared for stupid. She didn’t know what to do about sensitive. 

“We’ll talk about it tonight when your mom’s home,” he said before she could think of what to say. And that was all. They had a few minutes before arriving home, so she looked down at her acceptance letter. She had thought about it all day when she was in class and was happy to finger over the letters, appreciating the physical proof that there was possibility of another future for her. 

They were in for a surprise when they came upon their driveway. There was another owl waiting on their front porch. Erimentha raised her eyebrows and looked at her dad, but he had turned at her looking equally surprised. He parked the car before pulling it into the garage and jumped out. Erimentha watched from the car, quite dumbfounded, but also worried. Was she getting rejected? Had there been some mistake? 

Her dad quickly accepted the letter, but pulled out something from his pocket in a plastic bag. He opened it, and gave it to the owl. Treats! That’s what the owl wanted this morning! When the owl had scarfed down whatever her dad had given it, it flew off. Had it been waiting all day? Did the neighbors see it? Roger climbed back in and opened the card, and Erimentha leaned over, seeing that the envelope was addressed to her. It was a single-paged letter like the one this morning. 

He smirked and started reading aloud, “with great honor, we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. We await your owl no later than July 3st.” She looked down at her Hogwarts acceptance letter while he read it. They were identical, except for the names of the institution and headmasters. 

When he was finished, she tilted her head and asked, “but why would I get into two schools?” 

Roger shrugged his shoulders. “I figured this might happen. You live in the United States, and Ilvermorny is the official school for this country. Honestly, I was surprised you got into Hogwarts, but I guess they take family history into consideration.” 

Erimentha shook her head and fluttered her eyelashes. So she now had two magical schools to consider? What if her mom wanted her to go to this one instead because it’d be closer? She didn’t know anything about this school! Not that she knew much about Hogwarts, but at least her dad could tell her about his experiences. If they let her go to Hogwarts, he’d finally talk about it, right? There were so many questions, and it’d be hours before her mom got home. She groaned. 

Her father responded, “again, we will talk about this when your mom gets home. She promised she’d be home early tonight.” 

Erimentha got out of the car and rolled her eyes. 'Early' meant she was likely to see her mom before she was in bed. It would still be excruciating waiting. When they entered the house, Erimentha turned around to face her father, who held the other acceptance letter. “Hey...can I see it?” 

Roger smiled, “that depends. Can I see your Hogwarts letter?” They traded, and Erimentha watched as he kept his smile while he read it. “McGonagall and Flitwick? Both great teachers,” he murmured. 

Then he gave Erimentha the Hogwarts letter, and she ran up the stairs. She felt like she could have starred at the letters for hours, but thought it’d be better to have her homework completed before her mom got home. 

About 6 pm, Astra burst through the kitchen door. Even though Erimentha was upstairs, she always knew when her mom was home because she had a habit of slamming doors in a hurry. She bolted down the stairs, and her mom enfolded her in a birthday hug. Her mom had a giant cake waiting on the kitchen table, but Erimentha wasn’t that interested. Her stomach had been tightening every hour she didn’t know where she was going to school next year. Her dad came up to greet them, and Erimentha looked at him knowingly. Both of Erimentha’s parents had to be dealt with carefully, but for different reasons. Astra was cold and calculated, and if you wanted any chance of getting your viewpoint across, you had to be well prepared. Her word was the final say in anything in their household. 

“Erimentha got her letters today, dear,” Roger started. “For Hogwarts and Ilvermorny. I told her we could speak about it tonight.” 

Astrid had turned her back towards them to face the phone on the wall. “Let me order the pizza and get settled, and then we can talk.” 

Erimentha ran upstairs to fetch her letters and placed them in the middle of the dining room table. She was trying not to be annoying, but she wanted to convey that she was ready to discuss this now. Her mom put her coat away, took her contacts out, and fifteen minutes later, they were all sitting around the dining room table together. Her dad was at the head of the table, but her mom led the conversation. 

“Pizza will be here in forty-five minutes. Let’s get this taken care of so we can enjoy your birthday dinner! I have been thinking about this ever since I got pregnant and your father explained what would happen on your eleventh birthday.” That surprised Erimentha. She knew her mom was a planner, but she never indicated she had been thinking about this so long. 

Her mom continued, seeming to know what she was going to say in advance, “with the events of the second war, we weren’t sure if we’d ever be faced with this decision. Your dad has assured me that things are less dangerous because most of the former death eaters have been caught by now, so your safety at school would not be a concern. As such, my number one concern turned to your lifelong success if you were to attend Hogwarts.” 

This matched what little she heard from the fight before. Her mom’s tone was bright and confident, but she could not tell what her mom felt about the situation so far. Her mom pulled out a folder from her lap. 

“Erimentha, I do not understand why you want to attend Hogwarts. But if it is important to you, I have found a way to make it work. This,” she placed the folder on top of her acceptance letters, “is the information for a new online school. If you choose to go to Hogwarts, you can’t forgo your regular school. You will need to attend this one as well.” 

Erimentha wanted to scream. She looked at her dad to back her up. He didn’t look pleased, and he shook his head slightly, like ‘sorry, kid, I can’t help you.’ She sighed heavily, which turned out to be a mistake.

“Erimentha, I will not accept any attitude from you," her mom said. "This is going to be a lot of work for us! You don’t have to go to Hogwarts. If you want to go, you need a back up plan. I am not a wizard, but from what I know about them, they aren’t a stable society. Your dad had to work very hard to get where he is today! What happens if there is another war? What happens if you need to come back here? If you don’t have a high school diploma, all you’ll be able to come back to is a job working a drive through. You want to work at McDonald’s forever, hmm?” 

“No, that won’t happen, though!” she couldn’t believe her mom. “Voldemort’s dead! I know things are better because you guys barely go to those safety meetings anymore.” 

“And that is why we are even having this conversation. But your father lost everything,” her mom placed her hand on her dad’s. “ My job as your parent is to set you up for success, and I can’t in good conscience send you into the world without a basic education.” 

Erimentha nodded, afraid to say anything. Her dad let Astrid use his life as an example of tragedy without offering an alternative. This was the decision. “So...how would this work? How would I attend two schools at the same time” she gritted through her teeth. 

“It’s an online school, like on the computer!” exclaimed her mom. 

“Does Hogwarts _have_ a computer lab?” she directed towards her dad. 

Her dad ignored her, and her mom answered. “No, Hogwarts doesn’t have computers, phones, televisions, or anything fun. This is why I said it’d be a lot of work for us. I would need to transcribe the lessons and homework onto paper and owl them to you at school.” 

Her father managed to interject, “we could get a self-writing quill when we pick up school supplies. It writes whatever it hears.” 

Astra clasped her hands together to her chest, “wonderful! But still, we will have to prepare your work every day and owl it to you. You’ll have to do your reading, take notes, and complete any assignments we send you.” 

“So I don’t have to go to classes on the computer? What about deadlines? And tests?” Erimentha asked. 

“No, dear, it’s a flexible program. You can’t get too behind, so you will need to be working everyday. But there is no way your teachers will know it’s me typing in the answers. But don’t think I’m going to cheat for you!” she pointed at Erimentha from across the table, “if your grades fall, we will pull you out of Hogwarts. It’s up to you to balance everything.” 

Her dad jumped in to answer her other question, “as for tests, we’ll have to set up a time to take them together. We can communicate with a fireplace or a two way mirror. Probably a mirror, but we’ll figure it out.” 

Her mom nodded in affirmation, not quite understanding, but neither did Erimentha. They had never used magical devices before in the house. 

“So what do you think? Are you open to accepting this, or do you think it’d be too much? Why go through all this trouble when you can carry on like normal?” her mom asked. 

Erimentha took a deep breath. This was overwhelming. She thought she had known what to expect. “I guess I just don’t understand why it has to be like this. Wizards have real jobs after Hogwarts, right? The war has been over for a while, so aren’t things normal again for them?” 

Her mom stayed firm. “Erimentha, you have to protect yourself. If you don’t have a basic education, it is hard to survive in this world. You are putting yourself at risk, and I won’t allow it.” 

She turned to her dad, “but has anyone done it before? Is it possible?”

“It’ll be hard. You’ll be working weekends and probably after long days of classes. You’ll have to be responsible on your own,” he said. That didn’t make her feel better. 

“Why do you want to go so badly? It’s so far from us, and you’ve never even had a sleepover before! You’ll have to share a small room with lots of other people! The food will be new, you won’t know anyone at first, and it’ll be a completely different environment,” her mom finally sounded _something_ and that something was disgusted. 

“Well,” her dad started, “everyone is new at first. It’s easy to make friends when you’ve been around people enough. There will be plenty of kids who didn’t grow up with magic. But it is far away, so would you want to try Ilvermorny?” 

“No,” Erimentha said confidently. It surprised her. “I want to go to Hogwarts like you. At least I’ll know a little bit of what to expect then.” 

He seemed pleased, but his positive emotions were always subtle. Her mom rolled her eyes. “Well, just realize that this is a big risk for all of us. We are risking our livelihood. The whole point of living here is to reject magic, and I don’t know of any parents who have chosen to send their kids away to school. Over the summer, you’ll have to come to church to make up for it, and you can’t speak a word to anyone here! You’ll just have to say you’re homeschooled.” 

“But what about weekends?” Erimentha asked. “Can I come home on weekends to see you and make an appearance?” 

“No,” said her dad. “Hogwarts is pretty strict about students staying on campus until breaks. We wouldn’t see each other until Christmas break.” 

“See, that’s awful! Is it really worth it?” her mom asked. 

“Yes! I know it’ll be hard, but I hate not being able to talk about things here. I just want to belong somewhere. I want people to...understand me,” Erimentha replied. 

Her mom looked at her dad like she was disappointed. Erimentha suspected that her mom had hoped Erimentha would throw a fit and give up on Hogwarts when presented with these extra hoops. They didn’t take into consideration how stubborn she was. 

“Well just realize how much of a chance we are taking on you! We are going to have to put in a lot of extra work, and I expect that you will be appreciative and make good choices in return,” her mom started to get out of her seat. 

“Wait,” Erimentha said nervously. “So I am allowed to go as long as I keep up with online school?” 

  
“Yes,” her mom replied. “I don’t understand why you want this so badly when you have everything you could ever want here. Just think, staying at a dingy old castle for seven years…” she trained off and shivered. “But as long as you are still getting a real education, you can go.” 

Erimentha jumped off and went to hug her mom. Arms around Erimentha, Astra said, “and you can’t just pass! I expect you to be doing your best! Still have to be able to get into a good college.” 

Erimentha approached her dad for a hug. He told her, “there’s going to be exciting things happening sometimes, and you’re going to have to be prepared to say no to focus on your other work. And you won’t have us there to remind you.” 

When she stopped hugging them, she beamed a smile at the both of them. This hadn’t gone how any of them had planned, but it was a relief to finally have an answer. “So now what? We have to owl them a response, right?” 

Her dad responded, “well, we need to buy an owl first, silly! We’ll need to go shopping for your school supplies. Might as well take you to Diagon Alley if you want to go to Hogwarts.” 

“I can’t wait!” she shrieked. “This really is the best birthday ever!” As if on cue, the doorbell rang for pizza, and her mom left for the front door. 

Roger had turned on the television, and Erimentha wandered over to the living room. “Hey, dad, Hogwarts has pizza, right?” He laughed for the first time that night, which Erimentha couldn’t tell was a yes or a no. 


End file.
